s/o unfinished wood floors

[marbel]

Someone on another thread (IKEA) mentioned having unfinished wood floors.   I'd like to know how you keep them clean.

 

We have an area in our kitchen that is unfinished because the finish wore off.  Until we come up with a plan for our badly-in-need-of-gutting kitchen, we are living with it.  I'm used to using Murphy's Oil Soap on wood floors, but can't on the unfinished area (according to directions on the product).  I've been using a wood "feed and wax" product.  But maybe there is something better?  

 

Or maybe "unfinished" means something else than "bare, unprotected wood."

[Carol in Cal.]

I assumed that it meant unstained.  Because every wood floor I've ever seen that was truly unfinished looked pretty dingy pretty quickly.

But you can get an unstained floor that looks unfinished using a satin polyuerethane instead of a gloss or semi-gloss one, and that is both attractive and functional.  It doesn't soak up liquid the way unfinished wood does so it doesn't stain as much, and if you clean spills up reasonably quickly they go away completely instead of leaving marks.

 

In the other thread I think that the contrast was with white paint, which SHOWS dirt very quickly, not so much GETS dirtier.

 

[AnthemLights]

I didn't read the thread you are referring to but when we were younger and building our first house, we kind of ran out of money towards the end. Rather than going into debt for flooring, I just stained and varnished the subfloor. Basically no cost since I had lots of stain left over from previous projects and didn't care about the finish color. I just poured everything I had together and used that. I lived with that for years. Loved it actually. It didn't show dirt. Was easy to clean. Just sweep and sometimes wash up with soap and water. Very carefree too since I didn't worry about scratches etc. Weird thing was that not many people noticed our unique floor and if they did they thought it was kind of cool. We finally got around to putting in real flooring just in time to sell the place. 😀

[kewb]

I use vinegar and water to mop up. But only a damp mop. Not dripping with water.

Periodically, I get down on my hands and knees and use a mixture of olive oil and vinegar to polish them up.

[Ellie]

Bona. :-)

[Guest]

I would never ever not put some sort of finish on a floor.  There are a lot of different finishes, including ones that look "unfinished"--but truly unfinished, bare wood would look crappy in really short order, if you ask me.  Even if you don't mind that, at some point, you're going have to deal with it because you are the only person on the planet who does.  LOL.  But a low-gloss/matte finish can look rustic without looking trashed.  

 

And I am a wood-floor fan.  

 

There are some kinds of wood I don't like on the floor, (hickory for one, and really dark wood because that shows *everything*) and I don't like the kind of floor with wide gaps between boards because it is a cleaning nightmare.  But if I could put wood everywhere, I would/wood.  haha. And yes on Bona.  Big yes.

 

[Katy]

We have some original oak floors that are 75 years old or so and look unfinished. We ripped out the ugly carpet that was hiding them. They pretty much match some newer red oak floors we installed with an Early American stain in terms of shade, but without the poly shine.   I suspect they were originally oiled and then waxed.  I've swept, vacuumed, spot cleansed, and oiled but haven't waxed them yet.  Though I might soon.  I wish I could find a wax that didn't smell so terrible and/or cost a ridiculous amount.  I don't trust "non-wax" waxes.

[Bluegoat]

I'd worrie that real unfinised wood would bedamaged by moisture.  I'd wax or something else if I wanted an unfinished look.

[marbel]

Ah, thanks, all.  I do use a wax on it.  It's not something we want - it's a small area of the largeish floor (dining area which flows into the living room) that has worn off (under the dining table where chairs scraped).   So we have to plan well with regard to fixing/changing it, because whatever we do will affect the entire area even though the rest of the floor is in fine shape.  I am not sure that was clear but anyway, I will continue to use the wax stuff I have.  Thanks for the comments and information!